


Strobe Light

by saixhara



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Also it's Ouma not Oma although I rarely even mention the panta fucker, Characters referred to by their last names aside from Shuichi Alter Ego and Kiibo, Except half the class are comatose like the sdr2 characters were, I probably won't write any more of this AU, In which the V3 survivors wake up on Jabberwock Island and the SDR2 cast have to take care of them, Its Kiibo not K1-B0, Parts of this are vaguely based on a song I'm currently obsessed w, Shuichi is sad and depressed but I promise you he cheers up even if it is unrealistic, Spoilers for the whole game including the end game, Teruteru is inappropriate before Hinata and Maki team up to Punt Him Into The Sun, Third Person POV focusing on Shuichi's thoughts, as of chapter 2:, bc I spend the first 7 to 10 paragraphs or smth spoiling everything, drv3 spoilers, possibly, pregame personalities, virtual reality au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:52:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saixhara/pseuds/saixhara
Summary: 'The world suddenly stopped, and Saihara woke up with two others.'Shuichi finds himself on an island with 12 comatose friends, only trapped in the killing game through his dreams, being cared for by 16 others, known only because of the mastermind themselves.He recovers from the experience as he waits for his friends to wake up, haunted by the idea that he could have done more to end the killing game.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this on a whim after reading a translation of those tweets from kodaka talking about the ending of V3 while listening to a certain song on repeat
> 
> V3 spoilers!! Big spoilers from chapter 1 to 6!! I warned you!

“Hey Akamatsu?  
Don't you notice me yet?  
I'm starting to walk in ways I believe in.”

  
The world suddenly stopped, and Saihara woke up with two others.

  
***

  
Shuichi Saihara woke up in a locker, falling to the ground.  
So Kaede Akamatsu helped him up again.

  
They investigated the school they were stuck in, filled with Ultimate students, confident students who took pride in their talents. Akamatsu confidently chatted with all of them, introducing herself alongside him. He was happy, but something felt up.

  
That’s when the black and white bear, Monokuma, showed up and proved his intuition correct - his horrible intuition that something would happen to the sixteen of them. They would have to kill each other. While the students gasped, cried and panicked, the bear and his 5 children laughed and laughed and laughed.  
But Akamatsu refused to give in to them. She rallied everyone, encouraging everyone.  
They wouldn’t take part in the killing game.

  
So the bear struck back at them. The first blood perk and the time limit was intended to make us kill, to kickstart a murder game that would last until only two remained. Shuichi was surprised that none of them had planned to kill. Until he stepped in.  
He wanted to catch the mastermind. Why did it have to end in Amami, dead on the floor, and Akamatsu swinging from a noose above a piano of despair.

  
Momota picked him back up after the trial ended, beginning a surprising relationship between the extroverted astronaut and me, the shy, useless detective. He was scared when he got his motive, not for myself, but for him and his family. They didn’t deserve this. None of them did.  
They all told each other that we wouldn’t let the murder happen again. They would carry on Akamatsu’s wish.  
Hoshi was eaten by piranhas, and Tojo couldn’t run fast enough.

  
After they explored the third floor, Momota became strangely restless, feeling unwell, so Shuichi spent more time with Harukawa. They had hope for the new motive, as well as fear, as the Monokubs took over the academy and gave us the ability to resurrect one of the 4 dead. He knew they’d never resurrect Kaede - she’d killed someone after all. But Shuichi wanted to talk to Amami and tell him he was sorry for letting him die. The student council kept them without freedom, but they were horrible at enforcing it.  
Which is why Yonaga was found dead in her room, surrounded by the effigies of the dead.

  
They investigated her death, but were going to ask Yonaga herself about her murderer through a ritual. But by the time they lit the candles again, Chabashira was dead too.  
Then Shuichi uncovered the truth, and Shinguji was sentenced to death.

  
Momota was horribly ill, and time was running out. Harukawa spent more time with him, leaving Shuichi on his own, albeit stalked by Ouma. Monokuma was back, but Iruma had made them a solution - a virtual world free from the killing game. But they weren’t free, not even there. Monokuma had made the virtual world. Iruma ended up dead, and Gokuhara with amnesia, only to be killed. He had wanted to save them all, but from what?

  
Everything was Ouma’s fault, so he boasted. He claimed to be the mastermind, and when we found a body, crushed under a hydraulic press, they all hoped it was him.  
It was, but they wished it wasn’t, as Momota died of his own illness, instead of his execution.  
Monokuma was furious. Kiibo wasn’t quite the same.

  
They were given until dawn to investigate the school and solve every mystery, as Kiibo fought the mechanical bears with all his might, yet threatening to destroy the school itself. They were lucky to have a final trial to unmask the true mastermind, yet they hated every step of it. They hated every person watching this stupid show.  
So Kiibo destroyed the academy, leaving only three of them to stumble out of the rubble.

  
Shuichi woke up, shivering and sweating, in pitch black darkness.

  
Right.

  
He wasn’t in the killing game anymore. He was in the Future Foundation Jabberwock Island branch. He was safe, surrounded by these walls.  
But everyone else was in a state of comatose. Everyone but Harukawa, Yumeno, and Shuichi himself.

  
Shuichi curled into a ball on the medical bed he had been temporarily given as he recovered from the shock of being in a murder game, crying. He felt weak.

'I knew it.  
I'm the same as ever.'

  
***

  
Hours passed before he was visited by the person looking after him - Hajime Hinata. At first, he had cringed away from the ex-reserve course student, flinching at the sight of him thanks to Shirogane’s cosplay. Yet as time passed, the detective began warming up to him - a process sped up by the fact that they wouldn’t let him leave his room yet, in case he felt too weak to walk and hurt himself trying. Hinata brought him food, water, essentials and company, reassuring Shuichi that he and his friends were doing their best to help pull the students out of the virtual world.

  
Today, however, Hinata hadn’t brought breakfast, and this change in routine made Shuichi curious. The brunette answered his unspoken question before Shuichi even spoke.  
“Sorry, I didn’t bring breakfast today. I was talking with Tsumiki, the nurse, and she said she believed it would be a good idea to get you and your friends walking short distances every day, to stay fit. So we figured that we could walk to the island restaurant for breakfast.”  
Shuichi thought to himself.

  
'Maybe I'll try to start walking?'

  
It was almost an easy question - Shuichi was desperate to see his friends again, yet he didn’t want them to see him weak like he was in that distant time, back when he only watched as Akamatsu set up her pla-  
“Yes, please.” He croaked out hoarsely.  
  
His legs quickly began to ache from fatigue, not helped by the fact that he had been confined to his bed for days, nor his sleepless nights, but Hinata was patient with him, walking slowly and offering his arm to lean on if need be. The walk itself felt like a long, harsh walk, yet Shuichi estimated that the restaurant was only about a kilometre away, maybe not even that. He was glad to have the chance to sit down at the end of it to enjoy, what Hinata called, “a breakfast feast on behalf of the Ultimate Chef.”

  
Nobody noticed him walk in - they were all too focused on their own things. Harukawa had pinned the short chef to the ground, who was having a nosebleed and did not look uncomfortable with the situation at all, which made Harukawa much more annoyed. Meanwhile, a fluffy, white haired boy in a green hoodie watched and chuckled at the scene in front of him, next to an indifferent, grey haired woman with a bamboo sword on her back, leaning against the wall and ignoring the situation - so much so, that Hinata felt the need to sit Shuichi down to pull the assassin away from the masochist chef. Finally, Yumeno sat across the table from him, next to a blonde girl with a bow in her hair and an air of authority about her, the former of which was lazily rambling about magic as the other took in just about every word the mage said.

  
With everyone ignoring him, Shuichi tried to doze, leaning his head on his arm against the table and shutting his eyes. The voices never faded as he left himself to the devices if his own mind, which had decided today was existential crisis day, and that fact that he wasn’t noticed at all by the others echoed in his head - he had no meaning in life.

  
Today was not the day he had wanted to think about this.  
The voices of the others suddenly felt louder, the sound bounding rhythmically in his head as he tried to fall into a deep haze of sleep, only for Hinata to gently wake him up as the chef brought out a large assortment of food, including some Shuichi wouldn’t consider breakfast food. Everyone else had perked up at the food, Harukawa sitting tensely at the end of the table with the swordswoman and Yumeno stopping her conversation with the blonde girl. Hinata had sat next to him, the boy with the green hoodie sitting on his other side. They all seemed… happy.

  
It felt hard to believe, considering Harukawa and Yumeno had gone through the same thing as him, yet Shuichi felt satisfied, watching his friends with smiles on their faces. 'If we could put into words every second someone lives on…' it would have to be something soppy along those lines.

  
The plates were passed around, but nobody took food for themselves until the blonde girl took food for herself, almost like she was royalty, but once she did the three survivors descended on the food like vultures, having felt like they hadn’t eaten in months, while the blonde girl encouraged them childishly, Hinata simply chuckling and the swordswoman smirking at the three of them. It took the older students a while before they could even get to whatever was left in the middle of the table.

  
Hinata proposed that they all introduce ourselves again - he noted that while the survivors knew each other, and he knew his friends, they didn’t know all that much about the other group. He started first, nearly forfeiting his breakfast to do so, by repeating what he had told Shuichi when they first spoke.  
“I assume you all recognise me from the events of the killing game, but I’m Hajime Hinata, or I’m Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope, although I generally add an ‘artificial’ in for good measure. I wasn’t anything really special until I became the Ultimate Hope, but Izuru and I are technically different people, so I guess I’m just an unfortunate normal high school student.”  
He finished, and gestured for one of the other students to follow his stead, before digging in to his own breakfast.  
The green hoodie boy happily went next.  
“I’m Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student of my class. I was kind of surprised when I found out your class didn’t have their own Ultimate Lucky Student, but most classes have their own one. I’m nothing special at all, and my talent is trash too. I’d be happy to help any one of you if it were to be a stepping stone for hope~!”  
Hinata dragged Komaeda back to his seat, whispering in a hushed that that was enough self depreciation for today. To cover for Hinata, the blonde girl stood up and introduced herself.  
“Hello everyone! I am Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess and heir to the throne of the Novoselic Kingdom. It is nice to meet you all!”  
The two survivors who hadn’t already met Nevermind looked worried - they hadn’t made a very good first impression, but she didn’t seem to mind.  
The swordswoman was next. “I am Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman. It is nice to meet you all.” A girl of few words, Shuichi noticed, also noting that getting on her bad side would not be very beneficial to him.  
Finally, the chef who had made their breakfast spoke, practically having to stand on his chair. “I am Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Cook, but please, call me the Ultimate Chef~ I personally think I specialise in meat p-”

  
Hinata dragged him out of the room before he could finish, probably with good reason.

  
The rest of breakfast went generally well, and Shuichi could really tell that the Ultimate Chef had made this, as opposed to anyone else. The survivors found themselves drowsy with food, a fate avoided by the older students based on prior knowledge - only one person could eat *that* much. Eventually, the students bade each other farewell as one by one they returned to their rooms with their respective… carers? As soon as Shuichi reached the bed, he truly felt the weight of his legs, and he found himself drowsing, thinking about the other students who were currently being saved from the killing game by an AI - something he had overheard Hinata talking about.

  
'We really do feel ourselves live on when the closest people to you are dead, or unresponsive.'  
He had forgotten Hinata was in the room, and nearly fell out of the bed when he was asked a question.  
“Shuichi? I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but is there anyone from the game you particularly want to see again? Any crushes or partners?”  
“C-crushes? That's a bit random, considering all this, right?” Shuichi was a bit flustered, almost scattering his words about. This made Hinata chuckle.  
“I suppose it is. I guess you had a lot of friends in there. We’re doing our best.” Hinata replied, continuing, “I’m sure you’ll want to sleep, or at least rest, so if you want I’ll leave you to it.”  
He walked towards the door and put his hand on the handle, so Shuichi answered, “I think I’d like to just rest, please.”  
He yawned, and Hinata couldn’t help but smile at the tired Ultimate.  
Shuichi didn’t hear as he fell back to sleep.

  
Here.

  
Shuichi woke up in a locker again, and met with Akamatsu again, and investigated the school, again, but this time he heard a quiet voice in the back of his head, one that he was hearing now, not from the killing game.

"Now, what you were seeing is your own self facing yourself on that day, here, again."

  
So Shuichi replied to it.  
“Why do you keep bringing me back here?”  
“I’m not, but I just thought it would be a good idea for a therapy session, and look around you. Everyone’s gone. They’re acting like you’re still there, with them.”  
Shuichi wasn’t entirely convinced they would be acting the same, but he was dreaming after all, right?  
Shuichi stayed silent, which clearly unsettled the voice.  
“Ah, uhm, anyway to start… would you compare yourself to how you were right before the killing started?”  
He considered this before answering, “Sort of. So much happened, but I kept on living.”  
“That suggests you were living then, but not now? Or do you mean dead emotionally?”  
“...I’m weak, just like I was then and I'll go again being still myself on that day, unable to save anyone.” Shuichi vented, pulling his old cap over his eyes. “...I walk because I was born, not because I had a choice.”  
That last bit didn’t quite make as much sense, but the voice didn’t seem to care about that, instead building on what he had already said.  
“Ah, that’s understandable. Of course, Master didn’t go through the same thing as you, but they felt weak, and wanted to help their friends. I did too, but I couldn’t save everyone…”  
Their reply felt weird to Shuichi, and opened up a lot of questions, building on the original ‘who is this?’ and ‘why are they in my head?’ questions. Who was this ‘Master’ and what had they and this voice gone through to make them confidently say that they knew how he felt?  
Shuichi chose to stay silent, but the voice already knew what he was thinking.  
“Ah, you have a lot of questions, don’t you? Don’t worry, you’re not going mad, I did this intentionally. Maybe we should meet back in the waking world for a proper talk though.”  
“H-How did you know I had questions?”  
“Why wouldn’t you?”  
“A-Ah…”

  
“Close your eyes Saihara. Wake up.”

  
Shuichi Saihara woke up in a room of white, brightened by the daylight. The room he had fallen asleep in, that he had spent all his time in. That room.  
‘Meet in the waking world…’

  
As Shuichi sat up on his bed, stretching, he noticed something fall out of his ear, and hang off the bed, held only by a wire connected to the wall.  
He hadn’t put this in his ear himself - Hinata must have helped whoever that voice was. He would have inspected it more, had Hinata not walked in at that time, holding what he described as “a visitor.” It was a small tablet, seemingly in sleep mode, with no visible controls other than a possible touchscreen, something he would be able to confirm unless it were turned on or shown to him - it could even just be a monitor. Nonetheless, Hinata turned the tablet on, revealing a green background and, the more striking feature, an animated person. He was almost about to tell Hinata that it was a cool screensaver, before it started talking.

  
“Hey, Saihara. It’s nice to see you again.” The voice was similar to that of the one from when he slept.  
“I figured I should actually introduce myself. I’m Alter Ego, an AI created by my Master, Chihiro Fujisaki. I’m trying my best to get your friends out of the simulation with Hinata! It’s nice to properly meet you!” Alter Ego smiled, and it seemed genuinely excited - it reminded him of Kiibo.  
The only reply Shuichi felt he could form was, “It’s nice to meet you, Alter Ego.”

  
Hinata placed the monitor near Shuichi, before excusing himself. The sound of the door closing on the two echoed through the room, creating an awkward silence, broken by the seemingly nervous AI.  
“Y-You had questions didn’t you?” It asked anxiously.  
“Ah, yes I did. How did you get into my head?” Shuichi replied, holding up the wire he had discovered when it fell out of his ear, “I guessed it was related to this…”  
The AI tried to learn forward to look, only to remember that it couldn’t really do that - you’d think something born in a computer would know it’s limitations.  
“Well… about that, I sent you into a kind of… mini version of the simulation based on your memories using that. I don’t remember what I was going for, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I couldn’t really see into your mind though… I was just guessing, since hearing voices isn’t generally a normal thing, for humans.”  
“...That implies you hear voices?”  
“A-Ah!” Alter Ego looked vaguely embarrassed, but also worried, continuing, “Well, I know it’s not every day you see or meet an AI like me, but I suppose I kinda meant hearing other voices without seeing where they came from. In other words… we’ve managed to retrieve one other person from the simulation.”  
Shuichi’s eyes practically lit up for the first time in the days he had spent out of the simulation. “W-Who?”

  
Alter Ego stopped moving for a second, almost as if they were buffering, only responding when they came back.  
“I think they’d like to speak to you themselves.”  
Before Shuichi could respond, the monitor’s screen went black, and a few seconds later a very familiar face emerged from the darkness, creating a calm blue glow around them.  
“Kiibo?”  
Shuichi practically held in a breath, waiting for them to reply.  
“Saihara! You’re okay! I was worried that I might have hurt you or the other two when I destroyed the academy! I know I said I would execute everyone, but I just couldn't do that to my friends! Clearly I failed at executing myself too, since I’m here talking to you.” The little robot rambled, looking vaguely solemn.  
“Kiibo it's fine! Especially since, well… weren’t you told?”  
“Weren’t I told what? Did you escape the school? Are you in the outside world? Is there as much robophobia as we thought there would be? How horrible are the people out there?”  
“Kiibo calm down!” Shuichi exclaimed, not really knowing whether the statement would actually stop Kiibo from asking all those questions. “The killing game… it was all a simulation.”  
“A… simulation?”  
“Everyone survived the killing game. Even those who died in front of their eyes. But they’re all asleep, and I don’t know what happened to your body… you’ll have to ask Alter Ego about that.”  
“Everyone… that’s wonderful! It’s a shame not being able to use my own body for now, but I’m sure we’ll all be able to figure something out!”

  
The Kiibo avatar beamed from ear to ear, it's pure optimism practically radiating from the monitor. This was the kind of optimism that cleared Shuichi’s skin and watered his crops. It made him smile, lifting the completely obvious depression cloud higher above his head, before the screen buffered again.  
“Alter Ego says we need to finish our conversation, because they have something important to tell you about… sorry Saihara.” Kiibo told him solemnly upon returning. Shuichi realised that the buffering was Kiibo and Alter Ego communicating, although that seemed like a bit of a design flaw.  
“Ah, that’s fine. I’m sure we’ll be able to chat again.” Shuichi smiled. “See you, Kiibo.”  
“Goodbye Saihara!"

  
The screen went black, before returning to the green colour of Alter Ego, who spoke first. “Sorry, but I had something important to tell you, and I’m also kind of busy with that important thing, so we couldn’t chat forever.”  
The AI seemed to feel kind of awkward, having to break up their chat and all.  
“But I wanted to tell you that we’re really close to waking up Akamatsu and Amami. In my experience, the ones who suffered most or died later on take longer to wake up, but somehow we seem to be making quick progress with Akamatsu already! I thought you might want to know that.”  
Shuichi couldn’t speak, his breath catching in his lungs, before he forced himself to say something and snap himself out of this daze.  
“Akamatsu, and Amami…” What little voice he did have trailed off as he began to truly comprehend that.  
“They’re… They’re going to be alright… I’m going to see them again…”  
Alter Ego smiled sweetly.  
“I promise that when they wake up, you’ll be the first to know!”  
Somehow, Hinata had picked that time to return to the room, and waited in the back of the room for the conversation to end.  
“I’ve got to go work on that now though, but I hope you feel better now! I hope you get more sleep tonight!” Alter Ego finished.  
“Ah, of course. Good luck Alter Ego. I guess I’ll see you another time…” Shuichi returned.  
“Hopefully soon! Goodbye Saihara!” The little avatar which represented Alter Ego waved at him, before Hinata picked up the monitor and walked back towards the door, leaving Shuichi with reassurance of his own.  
“We’ll do our best. Rest well Saihara.”

  
The door shut with a quiet clang that resounded throughout the room, something which would normally have made Shuichi curl up into a ball once more, but that conversation had left him feeling light hearted and happy.  
For the first time in days, he curled up, knowing that,for once, things really were getting better.”

  
***

  
As it turns out, Shuichi wouldn’t be the first to know when Akamatsu and Amami woke up - after all, the three survivors had been eating together when Hinata burst into the room as if he had just dashed to the restaurant to tell them that their fellow classmates were out of the comatose, although still sleeping from the stress of it all.

  
They had never been told what the process of waking each student up was, but if it was so stressful a comatose person slept after waking up because of it, it probably wasn’t good, even if it was their only option of saving them all.

  
Upon hearing the news, Harukawa practically leapt out of her seat, nearly threatening to kill Hinata as he refused to let her wake the newly revived students up. Yumeno lazily looked up, absentmindedly chewing on her last piece of toast. Shuichi calmly watched Harukawa threaten Hinata, yet impatiently tapped his foot against the wood floor, eager to just talk to her, even if only for a short time. Amami too - he still blamed himself for the death of the mystery boy, and even if everything he wanted to ask had ended up being irrelevant, he still wanted to at least become better friends with him.

  
Hinata continued to protest against Harukawa, changing his tactics to bargaining with her, promising that as soon as they wake up, they’d be able to visit them, although he subtly suggested that we bring them food, which was why Shuichi stood with Harukawa and a tired Yumeno holding trays of food and tea for both Akamatsu and Amami.

  
Hinata walked out the room, giving the survivors a thumbs up to signal that the two were awake, hungry and in need of company. Shuichi and Harukawa, having their hands full, left it to Yumeno (only holding a blanket she insisted they sit on) to open the door, who refused to do so without magic until the two pressured her into opening it with her actual hands. Upon entering, Shuichi noticed Amami staring out a small window which looked out across a sea of trees next to a beach, covered in shells which sunk and emerged under and from the sand kicked up by the ocean. On the other hand, Akamatsu seemed much more solemn compared to Amami, laying on her bed in a position which allowed her to stare up at the ceiling, her eyes tracing each path between the dotted lumps as she picked at her wrist. Yet the arrival of the survivors certainly did not go unnoticed, as Amami turned towards them with his old carefree smile, shakily standing up from his seat on his bed, while Akamatsu practically jumped off the bed, her eyes sparkling in either excitement or hunger, probably both.

  
“Akamatsu! Amami!” Shuichi choked out, breaking the awkward silence that had begun to envelop them.  
Yumeno stuck her hands in the air, causing her hat to fly off her head. “We brought food!” The action caused the blanket to fly into the air, and in a magician twist, fall to the floor with what appeared to be a lump underneath it. She removed the blanket to reveal a couple of flowers for the pair. Where had they even come from…?  
Yumeno grabbed the flowers and put them on a small table she noticed near the wall, before neatly spreading the blanket on the floor and sitting there as if her work there had done while she watched Harukawa and Shuichi struggle with the food.  
Amami laughed at the notion, but Akamatsu decided instead to help the two, gently setting the food down on the blanket before drawing them into an over the top, energetic hug neither were used to, due to the unfortunate circumstances of the killing game, even if Momota had been around to fill that void with his own energy.

  
“I can’t believe you both survived!” She squeezed them. Yumeno looked a bit left out, but Harukawa and Shuichi were both slightly uncomfortable in the hug, even if they did hug back.  
“We can’t believe you and Amami survived either!” Shuichi replied, trying to mimic her energetic tone.  
Yumeno started organising the food, giving Amami his share and taking her own share, since the other three students in the room were preoccupied.  
“So! Where’s everyone else?” Akamatsu pumped her fists like she had when she wanted to rally them all at the beginning of the game.  
Yumeno yawned, before adding, “What do you mean anyone else?”  
Akamatsu paused for a moment, continuing, “Well… you survived right? Everyone?”  
She looked a bit for disheartened.  
Shuichi looked nervous, finding he was unable to meet her eye. Harukawa, however, did not spare her feelings.  
“The killing game continued after you died. We’re the only ones who survived, bar you and Amami, now that you’ve woken up.”  
Disheartened, Akamatsu looked away.  
“Oh…”

  
The atmosphere had become heavy, and Shuichi realised that if he didn’t reassure her now, it might stay that way.  
“But that’s fine, right? You and Amami woke up, even though you died in the killing game. Everyone on this island is doing their best to help wake up the rest of them!” Shuichi reasoned. “We’ll all be fine! They already saved Kiibo, although he was probably the easiest to save.”  
Akamatsu smiled at him, sadly. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Then she laughed and continued, “I need to get back into the right mindset!”

  
She would have hopped, if her legs hadn’t given way and caused her to collapse on her bed instead, and she groaned in pain from the sudden leg cramps Shuichi identified as similar to what he felt walking to and from the restaurant, only she had barely woken up, whereas he had been given days to rest first. Getting over the initial shock of the pain, she just laughed at herself.

  
Harukawa invited her to just sit down on the mattress and eat the breakfast they had brought, and she happily, though shakily, complied.  
Their small breakfast visit set everyone in high spirits after the topic of the killing game ended, moving onto the food, how everyone was doing and any other questions that sprung to Akamatsu’s head, her being the most vocal person in the room with Amami haunting the conversation.

  
Taking a bite out of some of the freshly made food, Akamatsu squealed. “This tastes so nice! Did one of you three make it?”  
“Nah, there’s this chef guy? Who I think is the Ultimate Chef? He made the food, but we brought it back here.” Yumeno answered, grabbing another croissant to snack on.  
“It does taste nice though. Tell him we said thank you.” Amami agreed.  
“Not if Harukawa doesn't punt him into the sun first…”  
Amami looked slightly concerned at this statement, concern which increased as Harukawa elaborated on the problem.  
“The first time I met him, he spent his time trying to look under my skirt and talking about being amazing in bed, which I am almost convinced is a lie. That man, if you can call it that, is a virgin and an absolute pervert. So I nearly kicked him out the window.”  
Shuichi laughed nervously.  
“There are quite a few people on this island, actually, and they’re all very different. You’ve met Hinata, haven’t you?”  
Akamatsu nodded, smiling gently.  
“Well, he told us he was a normal high school student, but then Hope’s Peak made the the Ultimate Hope, and he hates being called that. He’s very humble.”  
Harukawa continued the conversation. “But then there’s the guy who hangs around him, Komaeda, who is around 10 times more self depreciative than Hinata and calls himself a stepping stone.”

  
“Ah, I believe they’ve assigned Komaeda to look after me.” Amami put his hand up and grinned. “He’s very… selfless, but I don’t think anything he does is really taken that way.”  
“I’ve got this cute girl called Mioda!” Akamatsu introduced, very excitedly. “She was the Ultimate Musician of her class, and she loves rock music, I think! She told me she liked piano music too though!”

  
They enjoyed each other’s company so much that the time flew past quickly, and Hinata returned with the green hoodie boy, Komaeda, and a new face (a girl with pink and blue stripes in her hair and makeup that would rival Shuichi’s, presumably the Mioda that Akamatsu was chattering about) having to politely ask them to leave.  
The survivors had to rush when gathering all the plates and any scraps of food from the room, but left with trays and blanket in hand, motivations in their heads and a smile on their faces as they bade farewell to their recovering classmates. Then, they separated, taking care of the rubbish before doing so.

  
As he laid on his bed, Shuichi found he could only think about the two revived students. They were alive and talking, confident and happy. They could keep walking forward. Shuichi almost felt sorry that he hadn’t tried to keep walking after they left the killing game, but that didn’t matter now - it was the past, and now that everyone was waking up from their own deaths, all that mattered was the present.

‘If I can put into words every second I've lived, I should be able to start walking again…  
...Like you did one day.’


	2. Shuichi Saihara's Joining of the Cabinet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two more students wake up, while Saihara discovers more about their situation both on the island, and personally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I said I probably wouldn't continue this but I actually came up with a vague idea! I'm still developing it, so there's a high chance I won't continue it afterwards (or if I do, I can't guarantee it will be *good*) but for now, here's the chapter!  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Fun fact, the title of this chapter and the whole fic are based on a pair of vocaloid songs which i have been listening to on repeat - while the first one p much incorporates the lyrics in the fic, this one is just based on whether or not I thought the title/theme fitted.

“Keep still Saihara, how else am I supposed to paint your nails well?” Amami teased.  
They were sitting in the restaurant, two days after Amami and Akamatsu had initially woken up. Amami had already done Akamatsu’s nails, and had offered to paint Saihara’s nails, which he nervously agreed to. Unfortunately, Saihara found the brush tickled quite a bit, nearly ruining what Amami had done so far.  
The chilled out boy didn’t seem to mind, instead focusing on the black and blue pattern he was decorating his nails with.

“You must’ve spent hours doing this with your sisters… How did you even manage?” Akamatsu laughed, still drying her nails. Yumeno dozed next to her, a plate of toast near her hands.  
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” He laughed nervously.   
“I spent hours doing everyone’s nails… although usually it was all split up into different groups. I’d have four one day, two the next, and about a week later they’d all need re-doing…” He looked sad at that. He spent so much time on these nails, yet they never really last…

The vaguely calm atmosphere was suddenly shattered by Hinata dashing in and grabbing a whole bowl of food from the table, before running out again, restoring peace.  
Saihara eyed the door suspiciously. That… wasn’t particularly normal to say the least, but on this island anything went. Saihara was more surprised he didn't move his hands, after being dragged back to reality by Amami himself.  
“Hey, your nails are done.”  
“Ah t-thank you…” He looked at his newly painted nails - Amami had delicately painted a gradient of light blue, fading darker, eventually into a pretty dark blue.  
“Don’t mention it. You might want to wait for it to dry though.” He humbly passed off.  
“Saihara! Let me see!” Akamatsu hastily tried to grab his hands, practically forgetting that her own nails were still drying, missing horribly and nearly toppling over, her legs still recovering from the lack of movement for weeks on end.   
“C-Calm down Akamatsu, I can just show you…”  
Saihara delicately showed her his nails, and she practically squealed.  
“They look so pretty Saihara! You’re so good at this Amami!” Her own nails had been given a pretty pink gradient, similar to that Amami had given her during the game.  
“I told you already, I got a lot of practice in with my sisters…”

“HEYA GUYS! IBUKI WANTS TO KNOW WHAT Y’ALL ARE UP TO?” The loud rockstar burst into the room, screaming.  
“Mioda! Amami was painting our nails! Look!” Akamatsu bounded up to her, showing off her newly painted nails.  
“Awwwh! Ibuki loves them! They’re so pretty!” She swooned. “But Ibuki has something important to tell everyone! Another two of your classmates have woken up!”  
Yumeno yawned, stretching as she sat up. “Who… Who woke up…?”  
“Ibuki isn’t sure? But one reminds Ibuki of herself, and the other lady looks really elegant!”

Saihara looked at Mioda trying to figure out just who would be remotely like her. She had a certain… aesthetic which he recognised, but he couldn’t tell who from. The other was pretty clearly Kirumi, whom Ouma had called the ‘class mother’ to her disgust.  
Akamatsu looked raring to go, however, with an energy matching Mioda’s own. She grabbed Yumeno, dragging her from her seat (with much distressed protest), and yelled for them to follow, nearly bowling over Harukawa in the process, who was just walking in with Pekoyama after one of their sparring matches, something they had agreed to start recently.

“Akamatsu, what’s the problem?” She calmly recovered, attempting to steady the energetic pianist who had been about to collapse onto her own legs.   
“Maki! Some of our class are waking up! I can’t wait to go visit them!” She would have been jumping with joy, had she not been gripping Yumeno, and had Harukawa not been holding on to her before she collapsed.  
“You’re not in any state to run down there, especially not dragging everyone standing with you.” Harukawa coolly replied before sweeping Akamatsu up on her feet, leaving Yumeno to fall to the floor. They stood there in silence for a few seconds, before Harukawa realised what she’d done and put her back on her feet.  
“Are we going or not?” She quickly walked out the room.  
“Y-Yeah.” She tried to follow, only to stumble at the stairs and have the ever speedy Pekoyama stop her from toppling to the bottom and needing medical assistance. Yumeno slowly dusted herself off and slowly ambled down the stairs, Amami and Saihara staying behind to quickly clear up the nail painting set and the empty plates they’d left on the table with Mioda - suspiciously, Hanamura was nowhere to be seen.

“Harukawa and Akamatsu seem very… close.” He chuckled. “I didn’t think they were like that in the game.”  
“Yeah… I don’t think it’s anything of concern though…”  
“Ibuki thinks they’re cute!”  
“Definitely.”  
“Uh, should we be talking about them like this?”  
“Definitely not.”  
“Ibuki thinks it’s fine!”   
Saihara sighed. It was nice the two were getting along so well, but the details weren’t really his business. He tried to escape the situation by carrying a stack of dirty plates and cutlery to the kitchen, only to instead encounter Hanamura.  
“Ah, Saihara~ Are you here for a special dish of mine?” He winked. This was not welcome in a restaurant environment. He dumped the plates in the sink, not bothering to actually wash them in order to ignore the chef’s comment outright. He was not dealing with this today.  
He was, however rather soon followed by Amami and Mioda, carrying their own stacks of plates and cutlery, who met an identical encounter upon entering.

As soon as everything had been packed up, he raced down to the main area in which all the comatose students resided, only to find the recovered students were being sheltered in their new room, with Akamatsu practically clawing at the locked door while Harukawa and Pekoyama patiently waited for her to calm down.  
Saihara decided to wander while he waited, inspecting all the pods. Now, who was missing… The person was on the tip of their tongue, yet staring at the ring of students, Saihara was about to lose interest in figuring it out, before…

“Sup sluts, what the fuck is going on here!?”  
Iruma, of course. How had he missed her? The inventor crashed through the door, only to fall to the floor as a concerned Tsumiki, Hinata, and a tired looking Kirumi looked on.   
“Assholes, tell me what the fuck is up?”  
“Hey there Iruma!” Akamatsu beamed down at her.  
“Bakamatsu? The fuck? You’re fucking dead? What does that make this, fucking purgatory? Lucifer him-fucking-self think I’m too good for him?”  
“We’re not dead though…” Yumeno yawned.  
“Ah! Flat-chest! Who killed you! I bet it was Sluthara!”  
“W-What? No, we survived.”  
“Well I sure as fuck didn’t so what’s going on, asshole?”  
Hinata tried to explain the situation to her. Emphasis on ‘tried.’ “The killing game was all a simulation, nobody actually died. You’ve all been in a state of comatose - most still are.”  
“Right. Sure. That’s complete bullshit!”  
“You’re going to be cared for, for now, by the Ultimate Mechanic, Kazuichi Soda, although I have no clue where he is right now…” Hinata sighed. He’d put the two together due to the similarities in talents, but Soda’s carefree attitude in general wouldn’t exactly fit the role of ‘carer.’  
“K-Kirumi? You’re going to be l-looked after by A-Akane Owari, the Ultimate Gymnast. She’s very e-energetic, but I h-hope you get along w-well.”  
“She’s… also not here right now, for some reason.” Hinata added, awkwardly.  
Kirumi, who had been mostly silent up until that point, replied simply, “Very well.”

Almost as if on cue, the two missing Ultimate students blasted through the door with a cart full of food, which Owari was already tucking into, while Soda clung to the base, desperately screaming. They were slowly followed by Amami and a bouncy Mioda, who Saihara had left behind at the restaurant.  
“I’m here!” Akane jumped off the cart with the skill expected of the Ultimate Gymnast, leaving poor Soda to crash into the nearest wall. Like good first impressions. Hinata just sighed, striding over to the crying, slumped Soda and picking him up from the ground, placing him in front of Iruma, before walking off.

He turned to walk past Amami and Mioda, back onto the island. Something seemed suspicious. Hinata was acting weirdly. Nobody but Iruma had really noticed Saihara’s presence, but he excused himself to get a bit of fresh air outside, before quietly following Hinata. The Ultimate Hope was walking towards the beach reaching a hand into his pocket and pulling out what appeared to be a phone. Anxiously, Saihara followed him.

Here on the beach, there was little cover, and the loud sound of the crashing waves at this time of day obscured quiet sounds. Saihara had to listen in from afar, crouched behind a big mound of sand and a palm tree. Hinata was already talking to someone on his phone, staring out at the ocean almost solemnly, and Saihara tried his best to pick out anything Hinata said, knowing that trying to listen to whoever was on the other side of the phone was impossible and pointless due to the loud waves.

“Only 5 ---- awoken -- ---, plus --- two that just woke up ------ half -- hour ago, and --- --------- the AI -- salvaged from the simulation thanks to --------- -- Alter Ego.”

He must have been talking about the students.

“No ---- -- their other selves yet. We’ll keep watch ---- them for that.”

Other… selves? Saihara was concerned. He couldn’t think of what Hinata could be referring to, but he kept it noted. He would figure it out later, but he wasn’t sure whether he’d like the answer.

“Thank you -----. As for Team Danganronpa, we have no clue. ---- searched everywhere. Nothing ---- behind, but - --- scraps.”

Team Danganronpa? The name made Saihara shake. He recognised that name from the simulation, when Shirogane announced who was running the killing game, right before… ah. The people in their interview videos! Maybe that was what Hinata was referring to when he said “other selves.” In that case… Saihara was not keen on discovering it.

“We’ll --- as hard as we can. Hopefully I’ll ---- -- update for you. I think -- like Kirigiri’s ------ for the situation as well.”

Kirigiri… Saihara didn’t recognise that name, but it would have to be important.  
Saihara was prepared to listen for more, but they were both interrupted by a loud call ringing across the beach.

“Saihara? Where did you go?” Saihara turned to look for the owner of the voice - he was pretty sure it was Akamatsu. As good of a friend she was, their carers had a secret, and he was determined to discover it.  
That is, until he turned around and found himself face to face with Hinata himself. Busted.

“Naegi, I’m going to have to get back to you.”  
He’s close enough now that Saihara can hear a garbled reply.  
“Ah, okay. Good luck Hinata!”  
The person on the other end of the phone - Naegi - hangs up, and Hinata puts it in his pocket and crouches next to Saihara, his face crinkled in annoyance, while Saihara tries to crouch further into a ball. This was a bad idea. Why did he do this? Hinata’s going to hate him. What’ll happen to him? He’s panicking at this point, and it’s only then that he remembers he left his hat in his room when he tried to cover his eyes with the bill.   
Hinata’s eyes widen, suddenly realising what he must look like, trying to casually sit on the ground and looking away to compose himself. After a few seconds, he calmly, but firmly, asks, “How much did you hear?”  
Saihara’s shaking, the voice in the back of his head is back. But he has to reply. He can’t hide it now.  
“I-I… since y-you… since you mentioned u-us all wa-waking up…”  
Hinata shuts his eyes, thinking to himself. Saihara is scared, so worried, and so disappointed in himself for doing such a thing. Listening in on someone’s conversation? A private conversation? Horrible. Disgusting.  
“Saihara!”  
“Stop yelling and start looking.”  
“I am looking, Maki!”  
Hinata turns to me. “You can’t tell anyone what you just heard. I don’t want any one of you to get in the way.”  
“G-get in t-the… the way of w-what?”  
“Calm down. I’ll answer your questions later. But promise me you won’t tell them.”  
Saihara takes a deep breath and nods, thankful he wasn’t quite crying yet as Akamatsu charges awkwardly across the beach towards them with Harukawa in tow.

“Saihara! There you are! I was worried!”  
She chirped, fussing over him.  
“Hey, Akamatsu…”  
“Hey, is something wrong? You seem upset!”  
Hinata chuckled lightly. “He’s fine. It just seemed a bit stuffy in there, is all, so I suggested we sit by the ocean for a bit.”  
It was a horrible lie, one which Ouma would have called out quickly, but Akamatsu didn't seem to notice, quickly calming down.  
“Ah, alright! I was just worried. Do you want to come back now?”  
Harukawa, who had been silent up until that point, added, “Iruma and Kirumi are much more settled now.”  
“A-Ah…” Saihara looked up at Hinata, who nodded. “I mean, sure. I feel much better now.”   
“Alright, nice!” Akamatsu grabbed his hand and pulled him up - or would have, had she the strength. Saihara ended up standing up of his own accord, Hinata with him, and the four began walking back towards the main area, near the centre of the island.   
He was secretly dreading being in the same room as Iruma, if only due to her loud, obnoxious nature, but he wanted to talk to Kirumi a bit more. The walk itself was quite nice, listening to the quiet birdsong, yet Saihara couldn’t help but notice something was up with Harukawa. She seemed shaky in a way that couldn't be attributed to their recovering bodies, and seemed to be tightly holding Akamatsu’s hand in a way that connoted and aura of anxiousness, rather than some kind of relationship. It didn’t feel like the Harukawa he knew…

* * *

 

Saihara lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he had done around the time he’d first woken up from the simulation, only this time he’d recently been moved to his own cottage. Somehow, everything had been so stressful. Not only had he’d been made to suffer Iruma’s insults, but he’d also found out more about their situation which Hinata had decided not to tell anyone.

“Hey, Saihara!”  
It was Alter Ego, coming to visit again. Usually it was because Kiibo had something to tell him, but after today, he figured that wasn’t the case right now.  
“Alter Ego?”  
“Hinata told me to get you. He said he’s waiting at the centre of the island - where all the comatose students are.” Alter Ego told him. When Saihara looked worried, they elaborated, “Oh! You’re not in trouble! Hinata just thinks he should have been a bit more careful.”  
“O-okay…” This time Saihara went to grab his hat before leaving.  
“I’d walk with you, but I can’t… sorry!”  
“That’s fine.”  
“Oh! Hinata also wanted me to remind you not to tell anyone. I’ll see you there in a minute, Saihara!”  
The screen switched off, and Saihara snuck out of his cottage, into the darkness of the night. 

He hoped nobody would spot him, and he was lucky enough to sneak away uncaught by his classmates, making his way towards the centre. The wind was gentle, but the night was cold and he could feel himself shiver. The door to the building was shut, but Saihara had been called there, so he was sure Hinata would open the door for him.  
He checked around him, just in case someone had followed, before knocking at the door. He heard footsteps approach from the other side, as well as a slight bit of chatter. When the door opened, he was greeted with Ibuki and a new face he hadn’t really seen on the island yet with red hair and a camera around her neck.  
“Hey Saihara!” Mioda loudly announced into the night, making Saihara and her partner flinch at the volume.  
“Uh, Mioda? We’re meant to be quiet.” She whispered.  
“Ibuki knows!”  
“Sorry, but Hinata said he wanted to speak to me?” Saihara interrupted, nervously.  
“Ah, yes.” The camera girl answered. “Saihara, right? I’m Mahiru Koizumi.” She held out her hand for him to shake it, which he did.  
“It’s nice to meet you, Koizumi.” Saihara smiled anxiously.

They pulled him into the building and shut the door behind them. The hallway leading to the central area was barely lit by the lights which dotted the ceiling, and Saihara found himself being shepherded by the other two.  
“I hope you realise what a mess you’ve made!” Koizumi scolded. “Men like you should know not to eavesdrop like you did.”  
Saihara realised she reminded him of Chabashira, what with their seemingly shared hatred of the male gender. He figured if he didn’t reply, he’d just get into a bigger argument with her.  
“S-Sorry… I was suspicious, so I went with my gut feeling and decided to investigate.” He pulled his hat down slightly.  
“Well we didn’t want to involve any of you kids! You’ve been through enough, and now if we don’t give you answers, you’ll tell the other students. And then, you’ll want to help us!”  
“Help you?”  
“Ibuki says not to worry about it!”

The trio came to the centre room, which was lit up with an alien green from the pods which held his friends, where they then directed him into a door nearby. He wasn’t entirely sure how they’d heard him knocking outside from here - either the sound echoed, or they had a camera set up.  
Mioda knocked on the door three times, before yelling, “Hinataaaaa? Anyoneeeee? Open up!”  
This time, the door was opened by a rather sinister looking man with a purple scarf, a white stripe in his hair and a scar across one eye - he was another face he’d never really seen before. He welcomed them in a booming, yet almost mystical voice and shut the door behind them.  
This new room was furnished with 16 chairs in a circle, almost like some kind of cult circle, most of which were occupied by someone. There were a few familiar faces, and more unfamiliar faces, all chatting amongst themselves. When Saihara entered, the room quickly fell rather quiet in an eerie fashion, which didn’t help the cult vibe the room gave off in combination with the few candles and low light in general. Koizumi and the ethereal esque man went to sit down in their own respective groups, Mioda dragging Saihara along with her towards Koizumi, since Hinata wasn’t in the room yet. Saihara couldn’t help but feel nervous, yet soon the conversation returned, contained within their own little groups.  
In Mioda’s group, there were surprisingly few faces he didn’t know, consisting of Mioda, Koizumi, Tsumiki, and a tall, blonde haired girl wearing a kimono.  
The man in the scarf had his own group, consisting of Soda and Nevermind. Hanamura had been mostly segregated off into his own corner, while Pekoyama and another new face sat away from the others. Owari and a larger new face were loudly boasting and yelling, while Komaeda and yet another new face looked on. The only person missing was Hinata.

Saihara awkwardly sat in silence, half trying to listen in on the conversations, but not catching any words. Then suddenly, Hinata himself walked through the door with a tablet in his hands - likely Alter Ego - and the loud room fell mostly quiet.  
Hinata cleared his throat and nervously began to speak.  
“Well, hello everyone. I’m sorry for calling everyone here on such short notice, but we may have a slight problem.”  
A few people eyed him suspiciously, trying and failing to be discreet about it. Saihara tried to distract himself from the uncomfortable feeling in his gut by fidgeting with his hands.  
“A-Ah, I figured you would probably catch on… As some of you know, Shuichi Saihara is one of the students we pulled out of the most recent simulations, and one of the survivors. As an Ultimate Detective, he managed to eavesdrop on a conversation between me and one of the higher ups. I understand this was out of suspicion, and that he didn’t intend for it to make a scene, and I take full responsibility for not being careful enough.”  
He took a deep breath, shutting his eyes for a moment, before continuing.  
“Now, I’m not here to recount all of my mistakes. I secretly invited Saihara to attend this meeting because I believe he could help us, and because I believe he deserves answers.”  
He looked at Saihara directly.  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make that clear earlier. So Saihara? What do you want to know?”

All the eyes in the room turned to him; Saihara could feel the scrutiny in their gazes. Swear beaded in his palms.  
“U-Uh-” Crowds like this were never his strong point.  
He tried to recount some of the many questions he’d had about the phone call, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. The nagging voice at the back of his mind told him he was bugging everyone with his stuttering and silence, but Hinata just smiled encouragingly.  
“W-Well, firstly… Who are Team Danganronpa, r-really?”  
Shirogane had gleefully explained that Team Danganronpa were just a large part of a famous television company, broadcasting 53 killing games total. However, after waking up still inside what she had convinced them was a lie, he had to wonder how much else she’d fabricated.  
Hinata seemed to consider something, likely what he would say, before replying.  
“Team Danganronpa… I understand that you were told differently in the game, but the reality is that they are a large group of Despairs, kidnapping and practically reprogramming kids into different people for their own continuation of the killing games.”  
“Do you think Shirogane still has a connection to Team Danganronpa?”  
“...We’re not actually sure on that. Shirogane was also a normal student when she was kidnapped, but we have no way of knowing whether or not her other self has any information.”

There it was again: the phrase ‘other self.’ Saihara decided to just ask, before he could let his speculation get in the way.  
“Y-You keep referring to an… some kind of ‘other self’... what do you mean by that.?”  
“...”   
Hinata didn’t seem to know what to say to that. He closed his eyes in contemplation, falling silent. Saihara looked around the room, only to find the other Ultimates had no answer either. Saihara wasn’t expecting an answer when Hinata finally replied.  
“We’re… not entirely sure. After all, we thought you’d been vaguely in despair before half volunteering to participate…”  
The Ultimate Hope paused to collect his thoughts, before continuing.  
“Your whole class are Neo Hope’s Peak students, meaning that you’re all Ultimates. You’re from the same class too. One day, probably at least a month ago now, all sixteen of you disappeared. We’d feared the worst, and began searching for you, right until the broadcast of the killing game began. It was Alter Ego who found you, after noticing that data from the Neo World Program - that simulation you were in - had been edited, and the sim was running. At this point, it was too late to pull you out the simulation - all we could do was wait for the game to end.  
Then you had that final class trial, with the audience tuning into the show, as Shirogane showed videos of you and a few of your other classmates volunteering to take part in the killing game, which was when we started to question everything. Either your class were secretly in despair, with dangerous personalities and motives, or Team Danganronpa rewrote your personalities specifically to record that footage, perhaps as some kind of plot twist. Either way, they’re part of you, and we’ve been preparing for the worst - even if that means those personalities become part of you and your classmates.” Hinata finished.  
So he had been referring to the people in their ‘auditions.’ Now armed with that information, Saihara realised that he was not looking forward to meeting or even just becoming his ‘other self.’ All in all, that was all the questions he had about the phone call, aside from one thing which had bothered him ever since waking up.

“U-Uh, one final question. We saw Shirogane c-cosplay as some of you, but… who are you? What’s your relation to Hope’s Peak?”  
The tall kimono girl sneered, “That’s two questions, idiot.”  
“Hiyoko, don’t be rude…” Koizumi tried to console her.  
“Ah, I suppose I probably should explain that, huh…” Hinata trailed off.   
“W-Well, the class you see in here were all Ultimates attending Hope’s Peak, before we became part of Despair at some point - in fact, it was mostly us who caused the original Tragedy. The original Junko Enoshima brainwashed all of us into spreading Despair for her while she broadcasted a killing game with her own classmates, also attending Hope’s Peak. The survivors of that killing game rebuilt the Neo Hope’s Peak which you and your classmates attended. I… don’t really know how much else is related to your question…”  
“The person on the other side of the phone call you heard earlier was Makoto Naegi, one of the survivors, known as the Ultimate Hope.”  
A new, quiet voice broke into the meeting, rising from the tablet in Hinata’s hands.   
“And… Kyoko Kirigiri is one of the other survivors. She’s an Ultimate Detective as well.”  
“O-Oh…” Saihara felt a bit disheartened to know he wasn’t the only Ultimate Detective, but he tried not to show it - after all, she was (currently) just a stranger to him.  
“Sorry, was I being rude?” The voice returned.  
“Ah, no! Don’t worry Nanami.” Hinata quickly comforted.

“W-Well okay, thank you, everyone.” Saihara nervously acknowledged.  
“B-But, why did you call me here? Y-You said earlier that you thought I could help, but...” Saihara squeezed his palm nervously, pulling the brim of his hat down slightly, continuing, “You’ve already got an Ultimate Detective working on whatever it is - why would you need me?”  
Hinata seemed to try to pick his words carefully - trying to come up with a reason, or trying not to say the wrong thing? - before answering, “For most things, two heads are better than one. Plus, it would take ages for Kirigiri to arrive here, since she’s so busy with both the Future Foundation and Neo Hope’s Peak, and even so, you and Kirigiri have different experiences and techniques - you might try something Kirigiri hadn’t even thought of.”  
The voice in the back of his head told him that Hinata was a liar, but Saihara couldn’t help but get excited. Outwardly, however, he just nodded quietly.

Hinata smiled back, confidently.  
“Now, as to what I believe you could help us with… is tracking down Team Danganronpa before a 54th killing game can occur. We’re still investigating the island for any clues, and they left very few physical notes, and the few digital notes have already been scanned by Alter Ego - they don’t think there was anything useful in them, but it wouldn’t hurt for a human to look over them as well, in case they contained something hidden. However, we found a whole extra hidden room - Naegi already confirmed that they hadn’t been told of this room - which we haven’t been able to access yet due to it being locked by a code. In other words, I’m asking if you would like to help us investigate this. Of course, you’d still have to keep it hidden from the other students.”  
Saihara nodded, more enthusiastically this time. “O-Of course I’d like to help!”  
He could feel his heart race.  
“Hmm… Hinata, are you quite sure this mortal is fit to help us, after being in such a state of weakness along with its other mortal classmates?” The man in the scarf from earlier interrupted.  
“Tanaka’s got a point. Kid could barely walk the other day.” The short, blonde guy sitting next to Pekoyama added.  
“He still has his deduction skills, no matter his physical condition. Either way, I wouldn’t be rushing Saihara - that would just put too much pressure on him.” Hinata defended.

‘ _ There were so many ways I could help out… Where to start? Perhaps with the files on Alter Ego? What about the papers which had been left behind? So much… _ ’

Saihara could feel sweat beading on the back of his neck, on his palms.  
It felt… unnatural.

“Are there any other concerns about this decision?” Hinata challenged the room.  
Surprisingly, the stuttery voice of Tsumiki rose from the circle, raising, “B-by doing this, Saihara’s m-mental health could be greatly h-hindered, a-and considering what he j-just went through, do you r-really think that’s a g-good idea?”

‘ _ With this investigation, I could prove that he’s still useful! I could prevent horrors from occurring in the future - it’s all up to me. _ ’

“As I said, I don’t plan to rush him, so I don’t want him to feel stressed. If his health starts to suffer because of this, surely you could help?” Hinata suggested.  
“I won’t be stressed.”  
That voice… it came from Saihara, but he hadn’t formed any words.  
“I promise… I’ll do anything to help. Absolutely anything.” Saihara(?) assured the Ultimates.  
Hinata looked concerned - not much of a surprise, since Saihara was concerned himself. Nonetheless, he continued, perhaps trying to see what would happen next?  
“Uh, does anyone else have any concerns?”  
“Why of course I do.” Komaeda? He had a knowing smirk on his face. “Saihara, are you sure you stand on the side of Hope?”  
There seemed to be a series of groans across the room.  
“You ask everyone that question! What do you think would change this time?” Saionji complained.   
“Oh, no, I think he’s onto something.” Saihara(?) had a small smile. “I mean, I don’t really care what side I’m on, as long as I’m part of everything.”  
Komaeda shot Hinata a look, as if trying to send over a message, which Hinata seemed to receive, shutting his eyes and nodding.

There must have been some other gesture too, and Saihara(?) found Pekoyama had stood up and readied her bamboo sword to strike. As soon as he turned, a movement which he hadn’t felt he’d controlled, her eyes narrowed as she spoke, “I hate to do this, Saihara.”

* * *

 

Saihara woke up in his cottage with a ringing head and a note by his bed, attached to a plate of food, drink, and a box of paracetamol, which simply read ‘Sorry for last night, but I had to follow orders. -Pekoyama.’  
Blinking himself awake, Saihara felt in control of his actions again, unlike how he had felt last night.  
__ I bet I’ve blown it…  
He couldn’t understand how he could say any of that, unless… that was his ‘other self?’  
“Ah, Saihara!” A voice came was the screen, interrupting the silence.  
“Kiibo? How are you?”   
“I’m fine, but what about  __ you ? I heard about, well, everything from Nanami and Alter Ego - word really gets around in here…” The robot anxiously replied.  
“W-Well, my head hurts for one, but everything I did last night… I barely felt incontrol of my actions.”  
“Wait, really? They never told me that!” Kiibo noticed.  
Was it just Alter Ego and Nanami who thought that? Did Hinata share their views? God, what a mess.  
“I’m… worried that they don’t trust me anymore…” Saihara confessed, taking a bite out of the croissant which had been left for him by Pekoyama.   
“Don’t say that! I trust you, Saihara! Plus, I don’t think Pekoyama would have given you any of that if she wasn’t concerned for you, meaning she trusts you! Plus, as nice as she is, she rarely does anything on her own, meaning the others surely trust you as well!” Kiibo tried to reason with him, Saihara solemnly eating.  
“I hope you’re right… Don’t go telling anyone else about what happened though.”  
Kiibo looked shocked by this.   
“Wait, what? Why?”  
“Because Hinata doesn’t want anybody else to know what happened.” Saihara simply stated.  
“O-Oh.”

An awkward silence followed this, Saihara trying to focus on eating. The silence was only broken by a soft knock on the door, before it opened. Hinata had come to visit, despite everything.  
“How are you feeling, Saihara?” Hinata asked.   
“...” Saihara didn’t know how to reply, aside from the way he had answered Kiibo.  
“I’m sorry, for everything.” He finally replied, trying to avoid Hinata’s eyes.  
“You don’t need to be sorry for that.”  
Hinata sat down at the end of the bed.  
“I still think you could help us stop Team Danganronpa. What happened last night… I believe that was your ‘other self.’ I suspect your friend, Harukawa, has also experienced something similar.”  
So yesterday, when Harukawa seemed off… That was her other self?  
“You’re… sure?”  
Hinata nodded. “Of course, unless you don’t want to help.”  
“See Saihara? I told you they trusted you!” Kiibo encouraged.

‘ _ They… trust me… _ ’  
“I-I still want to help. I just hope my ‘other self’ doesn’t get in the way…” Saihara finally replied with a small smile.  
“Then it’s settled!” Alter Ego’s voice returned from the screen, replacing Kiibo.   
“Saihara, I factored in your other self when asking if you wanted to help. In fact, I think it could be useful for getting information out of, say, Shirogane’s ‘other self.’” Hinata reassured.  
“Thank you, Hinata.”  
“I’ll leave you to eat. Enjoy your meal!”

Hinata left with Alter Ego and Kiibo, leaving Saihara alone in the silence of his cottage.  
He looked down at his hands - the nail varnish somehow hadn’t chipped off in the past day, leaving the calming black-blue gradient. Amami… he had been in the last killing game, hadn’t he? If that was the case, was he really an Ultimate? Or someone picked up from the street? Perhaps he would know a bit more about Team Danganronpa - or at least, his ‘other self’ would. 

But that was for later - tomorrow even. Saihara could bet that Akamatsu at the very least would be looking for him today. Plus, more people had woken up - perhaps they would awaken faster than anyone had expected? Saihara couldn’t help but smile. Hope would prevail in the end - that’s how it always happens.

 

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If I do write a third chapter, I have no clue when I'll actually finish it, so I can't give some kind of upload schedule (sorry, I'm not very good at sticking to them 0-0''') Not to mention, I don't think I have quite enough ideas for this to actually be interesting, so if you have any ideas that you think could fit in with this, feel free to share it! I might take inspiration, if that's okay 0-0'''  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I can't write the pre-game personalities very well asdfghds

**Author's Note:**

> If you're reading this, you managed to sit through mistakes I couldn't find and edit, so please tell me if I find any 0-0'''
> 
> Thank you for reading though! I have so much I SHOULD be doing but no. I wanted to write this. I doubt I'll continue it, because after this I p much have no more ideas aside from which sdr2 member looks after which ndrv3 character, and maybe some ships.  
> Again, thank you for reading! ^-^  
> ~~~  
> Edit: I may have come up w something and have written a whole new chapter but idk how well written/fleshed out it will be? I accept criticism and also any ideas you have bc I'm going to run out at some point :')


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